


Samsara

by thegodofcats1957



Category: Haikyuu!!, Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball, 酷くしないで | Hidoku Shinai de (Manga)
Genre: Gods/Mythology!AU, Japanese Mythology - Freeform, M/M, Magical Realism, Worldbuilding, occasional use of or references to mythologies of other cultures
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-05
Updated: 2019-07-15
Packaged: 2020-04-08 07:43:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,029
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19102726
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thegodofcats1957/pseuds/thegodofcats1957
Summary: The gods walk among us, and we are but followers of their pace.(an anthology. gods/myths!AU)





	1. Karma

**Author's Note:**

> a small project. will update as i feel like it. i've been wanting to do this kind of au for a long time. like, i literally have many drafts and stories just sitting in my folders/drives. the stories will be from multiple fandoms so just make sure to read the chapter summary before you read on! or just read anyway. indulge my fantasies. also, will add characters/pairings/whatever else as i go 
> 
> 1\. Akashi/Furihata. KnB.

Every life he lives is a new one. 

Every 'him' is someone entirely different. However, no matter what his appearance and personality end up being, his Essence is constant. He's the God of Humans, after all. 

In this life, his incarnate is meek, awkward, and insecure. His name is Furihata Kouki. 

He remembers everything, and he has trouble reconciling his anxious, painfully average current self to the badass warrior he had originally been. He was the Hercules of Japan, for crying out loud. He defeated giant serpents and battled godly dragons. He tore through the gates of the underworld and climbed up to the divine realm. The heavens had been so impressed, they gifted him with godhood and 'immortality'. He was the last god who was appointed a throne in the Sun Goddess' circle. 

Now, he squeaked at every little noise and cowered before intimidating people. He was a scaredy-cat. He sent a brief apology to the Sun for being a disgrace of a servant. 

The other god incarnates found it amusing. The assholes got a kick out of scaring him. Kazunari, in particular, always pulled the electrocution-handshake prank on him. For all his millennia of age over Kouki, he still acted like a complete fucking child. Every day, every life; he wonders why he accepted the cloak of godhood. The never-ending cycle. He's lived a thousand years and sometimes, he forgets. 

He forgets. 

* * *

 

Red. And gold. But the red-- it overpowered everything else. He remembers that much. 

He always sees it in his dreams. It's the first thing his Essence makes him remember. The sensation of blood on his hands. Tears. Despair. Promises muttered in broken whispers. A lifeless body. 

Red. And gold. Like fire, he thinks. Vaguely, he does recall flames. But it wasn't out of a natural fire-- 

Lightning strikes raining down. A silhouette, dirtied and blood-stained, wielding a worn  _katana_ as he faces the Guardian of the Gates. Lightning and thunder spangling the skies. He's relived this story, over and over. 

He watches it through a haze and once more, he can't believe he and that man is one and the same. He feels the exhaustion, even though this memory is now just a myth to the people they watch over. It saddens him. 

The man-- _me_ , he thinks--raises the sword to the sky. Lightning strikes. 

The flash of light brings him back to reality. The rays of the Sun fall softly on his eyes.

* * *

He meets him and he is extremely afraid, but not for the reasons his human friends seem to think. Only Tetsuya and Kazunari understand why he's so shaken. 

"You were bound to meet him, Kouki." Tetsuya murmurs as they sit facing each other, drinking tea.

Tetsuya's reincarnations don't differ much from each other. He's always calm and wise. Ironically, it's his original self that's drastically different. The God of Air was jovial, loud, and playful. However, he's still the wisest. That's one thing Tetsuya's Essence refuses to relinquish to the cycle. 

Kouki looks down at his cup. "Seeing him was... electrifying. He made everything clear just by-by standing there. Maybe he should be the god." 

Tetsuya scoffs. "We both know he doesn't need any more of that. Look where his superiority complex took him." 

They share a brief laugh. Kouki reflects.

"...In spite of everything, I'm relieved." 

His friend hides a small smile between sips. Tetsuya offers a small prayer. 

* * *

 

The lifeless body. He's carrying it in his arms. He feels it again. The despair and the suffering. Agony like no human has ever felt before. 

Lightning again. Kazunari going against the rules of heaven by supplying him with divine strength. The thunder reverberates in his chest.

"I'm on your side, mortal." 

He knows they're all watching. Even Her. Even the most majestic of them all. 

He raises his sword and it crackles with divine lightning. The power leant to him makes him feel invincible. 

"Don't disgrace me," the God of Lightning commands. 

Him, the warrior he was, maybe is, charges forward and meets the Beast head on. The roars are deafening. 

* * *

Why did he do it? He could have just aged and lived in peace, then died in oblivion until the next cycle put him into yet another living shell. Not live for all of eternity in different incarnations, feeling awkward every time he visited the shrines and heard everyone's fervent prayers. What would they say if they knew that the deity they relied on to relieve their troubles and protect them from harm was this scrawny, awkward teenager? 

"Lighten up!" Kazunari slapped his back. "We're different every life! Who knows, you might be an iconic yakuza boss in the next one! Or the greatest prime minister Japan has ever had!” 

Kazunari, for one. It was so hard to believe that he used to be the most intimidating at the peak of his godhood. He had been the one who looked down on and distrusted humans the most. When the Sun Goddess decided to place them in eternal limbo to maintain the balance between the two realms, Kazunari had been the most upset. It was so jarring to see the stern and intense God of Lightning be this... cheerful, childish trickster. On the other hand, his cunning and disdain for humans have not changed much. He chose which mortals to keep close. He guarded their secret with utmost seriousness; believing that the humans would most likely try to harness their power for their own ungrateful, selfish means if they found out that the gods walked among them. 

Sometimes, Furihata still catches glimpses of a storm in Takao's gray eyes when they witness yet another instance of humanity's corrupt, flawed nature. Violent, greedy, lustful.

It baffles him why Kazunari put his trust in him when he had been human. Hadn't he committed the most blatant act of irreverence? Why was he even blessed with divine Essence? 

("Dude, you can't expect me to not help a guy who's literally gonna wage war against Heaven just to enforce his own sense of justice. No human is that pure.") 

The gods are weird like that, he thinks. 

"And I'm one of them," Kouki sighs. 

The sun begins to set.

* * *

 

“I didn’t peg you for someone who likes to hike, Kouki.” 

“It’s just once a year, Sei. It’s more a pilgrimage, really.” 

Akashi quirks an eyebrow. “Do explain.” 

Furihata grins. “When we get there, I’ll tell you everything!” 

* * *

I remember you from a long, long time ago. Your hair was long, your eyes a warm brown. The people called you a witch because of your fiery, red hair. I have always been yours. I held you in my arms and drank the poison. I drowned, and the fire filled my lungs. 

Kouki wakes up in a cold sweat. 

* * *

The mountain never changes. It only grows sturdier and thicker through time. The forest never lets anyone in, never lets anyone see. Corporations and illegal loggers alike have tried and failed to conquer the Great, Old Mountain. The foliage overshadows the rays of the sun. Akashi’s forehead is furrowed. Kouki holds his hand and leads the way. 

“I’ve been coming here every year since I was a kid. I know this forest like the back of my hand!” 

“I do hope so. It doesn’t feel quite right…” 

Kouki holds his hand tighter.

We’ve been here every life since the first, Kouki wants to tell him. 

The light emerges through the leaves and carves out the path. Kouki thanks the Mountain for being so hospitable and reliable a servant. He reminds himself to pay the God of the Earth a visit soon to express his gratefulness for this gift. It was also worth mentioning that he quite missed his snide jokes and outrageous stories. Tooru was always great fun to be around. 

“We’ve been walking for quite some time, Kouki. I can’t help noticing your lack of a compass or map.” 

Kouki laughs. “Sei-kun, only a few more minutes!” 

* * *

The tears and blood mingled on her pale, gaunt cheeks. He laid by her side and embraced her. The warmth seeped out and he knew. He carried the lifeless body in his arms. 

He’s submerged into a cold darkness. He sees her sinking into the void. He kicks his feet and reaches for her hand. Someone pulls him up by the hair, and he fights against it; acting as if his rescue was attempted murder. He opens his mouth; a silent scream. The name that unleashed mortal retribution. 

The Beast’s roars were deafening, but he could not be silenced. 

* * *

“We’re here, Seijuurou.” 

The man gazes down at a miniature wooden temple. The flowers surrounding its small, sacred space are in full bloom and fill the air with life and sweetness. What catches his eye are the strange characters etched on its marker. The characters resemble Japanese, but seem much more ancient— 

“It’s small and shabby, but it’s a genuine religious monument from ancient times. Our family has guarded it for generations. It’s a sacred secret.” 

Kouki omits the fact that he’s talking about his divine family and not the human one. 

Still in awe, Akashi murmurs, “I wouldn’t have pegged your family for the devout type.” 

“We’re not as religious as the old folks anymore, but this is really a big thing in the family. Everyone believes it’s why we’ve been so healthy and fortunate for many years.” 

“Now I feel embarrassed that I didn’t bring an offering.” 

Akashi kneels on the ground and says a prayer. Kouki listens. He sits beside Akashi and holds his hand. 

* * *

“You’re going to forget me,” she sobbed. Dying and miserable, her hands were like talons that clutched at his arm. Her voice, which used to be mellow and sweet, was scratchy and grated at the ears. Her hair dulled into ashes. Bones stuck out of her body. He held her close. 

“I will never forget you.” 

* * *

“You want to hear the legend behind this?” 

Akashi smiles and acquiesces. “I’d love to.”

“It’s been told to us that the human made this in memory of the one he loved most. He battled the underworld and the heavens to break her soul out of eternal damnation because he knew very well that she had been deceived and cursed by an evil spirit. He was the first mortal to defeat a god through sheer willpower and spirit. When he got ahold of her soul, he marched into heaven resolute on meeting the Sun Goddess to plead his case. The God of Beasts, also the Guard of the Sacred Gate, emerged out of sleep for the first time since the creation to protect the divine realm. But the human slayed them.” 

With the help of the Gods of Lightning and Air, but Kouki chooses to keep the story short. He’s pleased to notice that Seijuurou is rapt and serious with attention. He wonders if Akashi, a champion of Japanese culture, would be thrilled to find out that most of the mythology they read was true. 

“I haven’t heard that myth. It really is a sacred thing within your clan.”

(No historians or literary scholars know it, Sei-kun. Only us.) 

Kouki scratches his cheek and shrugs. “Don’t tell my family or anyone else I told you! It's a heavily guarded secret.” 

Akashi props his cheek on his hand. “What’s the ending of the story, though? I believe you haven’t finished.” 

With melancholy, “They made him the God of Humans, and he was to chase his beloved for all of eternity, through endless lifetimes.” 

“How romantic. I wonder if you’d do the same, sap that you are.”

Kouki pouts and begins to argue his case, but he is slightly unsettled by Akashi’s sharp perception. Even when he doesn’t realise it, he always knows. 

* * *

“You will never be at peace,” the Sun admonishes him.

“Your courage shall also be your downfall. You will never rest, never sleep. You will be one among us. Your soul for hers.” 

He’s on his knees, forehead touching the ground. No one is allowed to look The Sun in the eye. He is humbled. Resolute, he offers his soul to Her.

The light and heat melt him into nothingness. This is both reward and punishment.

“The throne is yours.”


	2. The Prologue in Four Perspectives

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Heaven is falling down, and if you want everything you hold dear to continue to be, you have to sacrifice. This is the way of the universe.
> 
> 2\. IwaOi, YamaTsukki, Kozume Kenma (Haikyuu!)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello! this work will include a whole lot of other characters from various anime/manga. for full disclosure, this fanfic might as well be a disguise for my own shot at practising world building and characterisation in my writing. so if you're not familiar with some of the characters i use, you don't have to read/watch whatever show or manga they come from. like, it's not necessary at all. but i will include a list at the end just so you can check it out, if you're bored or curious. ultimately this ""fanfic"" is just a placeholder for my imagination... does that make sense? haha. kindly indulge me!

_“Fate leads the willing, and drags along the reluctant.” –Seneca_

* * *

 

Iwaizumi suspects. As with all things related to Oikawa Tooru, Iwaizumi is always on the lookout. Mostly because Tooru does stupid shit, sometimes because he’s genuinely concerned. He can’t count all the times his suspicions have led to discoveries both comedic and tragic. Some are harmless, like how when they were six, Tooru was the one who had been stealing Hajime’s toys. Some are serious, like how Oikawa played volleyball all through middle school despite the gradual breakdown of his knee. Some suspicions are happy. Like Tooru being in love with him. The touches, the jealousy, the blatant display of disdain for girls who confessed to Hajime and those he dated. It had made him feel weird, then happy. He suspected that maybe he hadn’t been as honest with himself as he should have been. Then they finally came together and all the suspicions had been worth it. 

But now, five years into their relationship, Hajime is suspecting. And it’s a first.

It’s the kind of suspicion that fills him with dread. 

Oikawa’s been distant. Evasive. Coming home late, tired, quiet, even dismissive. He smells like cigarettes (Tooru doesn’t smoke). He’s not as affectionate (His kisses are forced). It went on for weeks, Hajime passed it off as a mood. It went on for months, Hajime was concerned. It was still going on, and he was suspicious. He didn’t dare say a word. As much as he was straightforward, this time he was actually afraid. 

Afraid Tooru had realized how much he was a waste-- _they_ were a waste. How he could probably pursue someone better, someone who--, shit, Hajime doesn’t know. Whatever it was that he lacked, someone who had it. He had been confident that he knew Tooru heart, body, and soul, but this is someone he doesn’t know.

The door to their bedroom creaks open. It’s 2 AM.

* * *

 

Oikawa sits back as Yamaguchi lands another punch across the fucker’s face, and he sees a tooth fly. Kenma isn’t letting up either. Cigarette held between his fingers, eager to burn holes into the man’s skin.

And people thought he was the psycho. Sheesh. 

“You think you’re funny? You fucking--”

Tadashi lands another one, right at the same spot in the poor guy’s face. They hear a crunch. 

“Yo, Yama-chan, ease up. I know you’re the medic here and all--”

“Oh trust me, Tooru-san. This fucker isn’t getting any healing from me.” 

Tooru sighs. He stands up from the couch and walks over to the man. He looms over him. The man cowers. 

“Don’t make us do this. Spit it out.” 

Kenma takes a long drag. Exhales it on the man’s face. Then puts out the cigarette right in the middle of his forehead. “Hey, you piece of shit. Oikawa Tooru shouldn’t have to be asking you. Neither should I or Tadashi. No one in my fucking family should even be breathing the same filthy air as you.” 

With a touch of spite, Kenma reignites the tip of the cigarette. He digs it harder into the man’s forehead, dissatisfied with the groans of pain. Kenma wanted screams. 

He takes a step back, sneering at their hostage. “Tooru, Tadashi. Take a walk.” 

The two men share a look. They see the smoke steaming from the cigarette that should have been long extinguished by now, and it doesn’t take a genius to see just how pissed the fox deity is. Tadashi is as mad as anyone, but he wasn’t one for torture. “Uh, you sure you don’t want me to--”

“You can stay outside, if you really want to. I don’t think you’d like the smell of burnt flesh.” 

The hostage starts protesting and begging.

Tooru flashes a thumbs-up. “You got it!”

* * *

 

When you’re a ‘defector’ god, as the little shits up high liked to call them, everything always feels like walking on a tightrope. Kozume Kenma was nearing the end of his patience and by extension, his sanity. It seemed like everyone was on a mission to fuck with him these days. And Kenma was tired. If one more motherfucker stepped on his metaphorical fox tail, he was going to spoil this fucking country’s rice fields for one entire year and make it a bountiful time for that miserable bitch Izanami. At this point, he didn’t give a fuck about being labeled a god of misfortune. Amaterasu and all the upper houses could go fuck themselves. 

But first, this. Just when he thought things couldn't get any worse, he’s given the news: Noyamano Rika has been murdered. Nemugasa Takashi is the new head, effective immediately. The family is out for blood, suspecting one of Susanoo’s branch houses. And maybe some of the elite warriors working under the emperor. Or it could be any one, Kenma thinks. Ever since the whole lot of them defected from the ‘imperial house’, the whole situation has been turbulent. Amaterasu isn’t a benevolent goddess. They all know she’s just biding her time under the guise of a treaty, waiting for the chance to wipe their souls off the Samsara, not a trace of their Essence to be left behind. He has faith in Nemugasa Takashi, in their rag-tag family and in the alliance, but it’s exhausting. Now, he has to deal with this pathetic human. 

Ten minutes into the interrogation, and he caves in, thank fuck. He babbles about bounties. How no one knows who’s pulling the strings. How some big shot had just said they’d give generations’ worth of fortune and _maybe_ a shot at godhood to whoever managed to produce the corpse of any one of the leaders of the three ‘rogue houses’. One of the emperor’s watchdogs was keeping tabs on the whole thing. 

And then the kicker: the assassin is dead, struck down right after Rika’s murder. To keep things quiet. A silent warning. 

The hostage bursts into flames. Kenma has half the decency to activate a barrier to keep the fire from spreading out. But he is so, so fucking enraged. 

“So you mean to tell me,” he hisses out, his voice turning low and predatory, “that you’ve just been wasting our fucking time?” 

The fire burns brighter. The screams louder. 

Soft knocks. “Kenma, everything okay in there? Why is the door knob melting?” 

Kenma glares, his eyes taking on their true form. 

“You won’t even have ashes by the time I’m done with you.”

* * *

 

Tooru is an earth deity, but he actually descends from the House of Benzaiten. “Which is why I’m so cultured and beautiful,” Tooru always boasts. 

“Which is why the words won’t stop flowing from your damn mouth,” any one of the assholes he called family would quip, right on cue. 

These days, he doesn’t feel very beautiful. Not when someone he respected and considered a mother was killed right under his nose. Not when his relationship was about to be torn apart. Not when he knew everything was a ticking time bomb, and this was going to spiral into a war between the Upper Houses and the Defectors. 

(They were never the ‘Lower Houses’.)

Besides, Tooru thought, to call them ‘lower’ would be misleading, seeing as how they had quite a handful of purebloods among their ranks. Tooru included. He betrayed his house, relinquished his divine name in pursuit of his own principles. He vaguely remembers that hand reaching out to him, all those centuries ago, in the thick of battle. 

She was beautiful, proud, and strong. “You are destined for greater things,” she told him. 

This was a betrayal several cycles in the making. For the lifetimes when he had been too cowardly to follow her call, he was going to make up for all of them now. Even at the cost of his own fortune. Even if it meant sacrifice. 

Oikawa Tooru knows what he has to do. And this time, it won’t take lifetimes for him to do it.

* * *

 

“You have to be prepared,” Kenma tells Yamaguchi. 

Tadashi smiles. “I know.”

I know, Tadashi thinks.

* * *

 

This will be the first among many sacrifices. Tadashi knows. He is prepared. 

Resolute, he closes his eyes. Breathes out. He reflects on the fragility of this world. He is human, not at all a pureblood, so he knows it all too well. How fleeting everything is. How delicate. How someone could love you and be your companion throughout life and blink; a stranger by the second he opens his eyes. 

When Tsukishima Kei wakes up, there will be no Yamaguchi Tadashi.

Tadashi wipes his memories and emotions clean, then activates a protection seal. At the very least, he allows himself to do this. Even if Tsukki were to not know or remember him, in all senses of the word, Tadashi will be with him. Maybe it’s selfishness, Tadashi thinks. A pathetic attempt at holding onto something that can be so easily taken away. He convinces himself it’s his penance, for dragging him into danger, for taking the liberty to manipulate something so intimate as one’s memories. Tadashi gives him one last kiss. 

“See you around, Tsukki.”

* * *

 

It’s not difficult to break away from their human cloaks. All it takes is a snap of a finger, and suddenly, their mothers, fathers, siblings, teachers, classmates, workmates, childhood friends, bosses and all the people they’ve encountered so far won’t even remember them, let alone recognize them. That’s how easy it is to fool humans. Memories are reset, pictures reformed. All physical traces of their human existence, gone. It’s necessary to make a clean break because all heaven’s about to fall down on them, and nobody knows just how long this will last, how many cycles it will take. Or if it will ever really end. The gods know what this means for humans, and they know what it means for them, the Traitors. The Fallen. The Rogues. The realms are going to turn upside down, the wheel will be spinning.

Tooru knows this. He’s a pureblood, and it wouldn’t take much of his energy to make Iwaizumi forget him. To make him wake up the next day, unaffected and unaware, almost twenty years of friendship and five years of a romantic relationship erased. A clean slate. Tooru, however, is not honorable. He’s not upright or benevolent in any aspect. He’s among the worst of them: a jealous, selfish, and petty god. He was going to be gone, but he’d be damned if Hajime did not remember him, even if it was in hatred. Call him twisted, but he wasn’t going to be some fucking after image in Hajime’s dreams. He was going to live in his consciousness until his dying days. Tooru would bless his children; be their literal godfather. In exchange for the mother’s soul, of course. 

(You twisted fuck, Kenma tells him.)

Tooru knows what he has to do, but he’s going to do it his way. With a whole lot of theatrics, twistedness, and intensity. He was going to make this the most painful and traumatizing betrayal Iwa-chan would ever experience in his human life. Because he loves Iwa-chan, and he doesn’t want to be forgotten. Hate is better than his death, Tooru thinks. 

“Let’s do it.”

* * *

 

Iwaizumi comes home, and dread fills him as he walks further into the apartment. 

Tooru’s home early, he realizes.

He knows because he hears it, and he doesn’t want to believe it. He tries to convince himself, Tooru you fucking idiot why are you watching porn out loud what will the neighbors say you shameless nitwit your moans are too loud be a little more subtle have some shame have some decency you fucking whore you cheating slut--

Iwaizumi Hajime pushes the door to their bed room open, and everything he’s been suspecting is realized into this disgusting, filthy, wanton display right on their bed. 

Hajime sees red, and he blacks out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1\. Benzaiten = The Goddess of All that Flows (words, art, water, knowledge; she's the epitome of eloquence.) also one of the gods of fortune  
> 2\. Amaterasu = Sun Goddess. the topdog (or God) of Japanese mythology  
> 3\. Susanoo = God of Storms and the Sea  
> 4\. Izanami = Goddess of Creation and Death. according to myth, she was left behind rotting in the underworld because her husband (Izanagi) couldn't do the one fucking simple thing he had to do. interesting myth  
> 5\. Kenma is a kitsune. So he's under Inari. idk why but i wanted to make this clear that he's a fox deity, but not a "god" God. sorry im a stickler  
> 6\. Noyamano Rika is a character from Air Gear (Oh Great!) <<\--this is literally the mangaka's penname  
> 7\. Nemugasa Takashi is the protagonist from MY ALL-TIME FAVORITE YAOI MANGA, "HIDOKU SHINAIDE" (Yonezou Nekota) AND HE WILL BE A MAIN CHARACTER HERE SO okay sorry me putting him here is partly out of my frustration with waiting for manga updates, partly out of dissatisfaction with the lack of fanfics for this manga. god i love him pls read Hidoku Shinaide a masterpiece truly astounding
> 
> *chapters are loosely related, but not all that chronological. everything unfolds in a stream of consciousness style. if at times you lose me, do tell me so i may improve my writing (and we can maybe discuss the finer points of my fantasies and my thing for Asian mythology). and as I said before, this is very freeform. also, i wont bother listing some of the fandoms i take my characters from if they're not going to be prominent, but i will note them in the end notes, like i said, for anyone who's curious. :D

**Author's Note:**

> most of this is inspired by Japanese mythology but do know that i will also take great liberties in terms of worldbuilding. if you're a stickler for accuracy and whatnot, this fic may not be for you :(


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